When you're on a VLCD, all you need is for the temperature to change just a bit and boy do you feel it?! But why is it when you are on a VLCD, do you feel the cold so much and what can you do about it?

Why do I feel so cold?

When you embark on a Very Low Calorie Diet (also known as a total food replacement plan or a VLCD for short), you consume far less calories than you usually would. Due to the smaller amount of calories and carbohydrates you are consuming, your body enters a state of ketosis (this is a perfectly SAFE & NATURAL process for your body). Ketosis is where your body turns stored fat into energy to keep you functioning and that's why you lose weight so quickly on a VLCD.Ketosis can bring some side effects. In the early stages of entering ketosis, slimmers may have a slight headache, may even feel abit of fever, feel hunger or could even feel lethargic (these symptoms vary from slimmer to slimmer & do not happen to everyone). Once you are in ketosis though, alot of slimmers notice those initial side effects start to subside. However, some side effects do remain and those are the following:* Feeling thirstier than usual* Strange or metallic taste in the mouth* Feeling colder than usual (cold hands, cold feet).Feeling colder is very common and this is because when we are in ketosis, the body naturally tries to preserve energy where it can and one thing it does is to slow certain processes down and that's why we usually feel colder with our extremities such as hands and feet really feeling it.

What can I do about feeling the cold on a VLCD?

Depending on the time of year, you may not notice the cold as much (slimmers in the summer sometimes welcome that cooler body temperature feeling) but if you are on a VLCD in Autumn or Winter, you may notice it more and here's what you can do to help yourself warm up.

Ensure you drink plenty of hot drinks - teas, coffees, SMLDiet fat burner made up with hot water or SMLDiet hot chocolate drink can certainly help you warm up quickly. With our plans you are allowed a small amount of semi or skimmed milk so you can easily enjoy you tea or coffee with milk as usual. There are some AMAZING flavoured teas and coffees out there - Beanies is a range of coffees that VLCD slimmers love because it has a huge range of flavours and you can easily pick up a jar in your local supermarket. For teas, I personally love the Twinings range. They have brought out a range of flavours such as caramel green tea so I know I'm getting the good stuff whilst satisfying that sweet tooth itch.

Boullion is a MUST - VLCD companies will HATE me for telling you about this product. The reason being is that VLCD companies sell a 'savoury broth' which is basically boullion re-packaged (but for alot more money than you would buy in your supermarket). Boullion is made by Marigold and is available from supermarkets (usually found in the gravy or broth aisle). It costs less than £2 a tub and is delicious. Do get the reduced salt version though as it can taste salty. You simply make up as a hot delicious drink and boy does it hit the spot.

Meal Packs - SMLDiet sell meal replacement meals. Our tex mex chilli or cottage pie for example are fantastic to have in the evenings. You can easily adapt them if you wish - maybe add some cheese and zero rice to the tex mex chilli? or some cooked veg to the cottage pie? These will fill you up and as they're a hot foodpack, they'll give you that satisfied, comforting feeling we usually seek when we are full.

Protein Rice pudding anyone? We sell protein foods such as Protein pizza, protein Rice pudding or even protein hot chocolate. You simply make these as hot and again can enjoy these foods for less than 100 calories (use in addition to your meal replacements each day).

Snuggle up - Yup there's nothing quite like getting all Hygge. Run yourself a nice bath, put the candles and face mask on and have abit of self care. Afterwards get your favourite PJ's on and sit down feeling warm and cosy whilst settling down for the night. PS - you can't beat a bit of good bed socks!

REMEMBER THIS - When we are feeling cold, our bodies can feel hungrier and thoughts can turn into cravings for 'warming foods'. Notice this and notice the food associations you get.

Extra side note - feeling colder than usual is a good thing as it reminds you that ketosis is working for you and your body is burning those calories.

For more info on ketosis or our diet plans, head on over to www.thesmldiet.com